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Designed by Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier, the Blériot XI monoplane took off on its maiden flight #onthisday in 1909. On July 25, 1909, Blériot flew the aircraft over the English Channel from Calais, France, to Dover, England. This was the first successful crossing of the Channel in an airplane. The feat made Blériot a worldwide celebrity and earned him the £1,000 prize established by the British newspaper the Daily Mail a year earlier. The design was highly successful, produced in numerous variants, and flown widely by early aviators, including Harriett Quimby and John and Matilde Moisant. In 1911, Earle Lewis Ovington carried the first U.S. airmail in a Blériot XI. Image: M. Louis Blériot postcard, Blériot XI Monoplane inside Selfridge's store, 1909. SFO Museum Collection. 1995.09.06 This image was posted on January 23, 2020.